Heel.



D L. BURNELL & L. J. EBERLE. HEEL.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE23. 1916.

ii Q ?U Yatented Nov. 20, 191?.

I a amazon wow V will names v Q Tf 95% I I 61m "UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID L. BUBNELL AND LOUIS J. EBEBLE, 0F NELSONVILLE, OHIO.

HEEL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

7 Patented Nov. 20, 1917.

To, all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, DAVID L. Bnnnnu. and LOUIS J. Ennnnn, citizens of the United States, residing at Nelsonville, in the county of Athens and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Heels, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to heels and is particularly directed to the elastic type of heels used upon boots and shoes to cushion the shock of walking,

The main object of this invention resides in the provision of a heel structure whereby the tread surface will be caused to wear evenly throughout its life and in-the accomplishment of this t o/ so arrange the structure that the wearer is guarded against slipping.

Still a further object of the invention resides in so forming the heel that, when applied to a shoe, the tread surface will properly aline with the ball portion of the foot to insure correct carriage and to additionally contribute to ease of walking.

The preferred embodiment of our invention is shown in the accompanying sheet of drawings, in which similar characters of reference designate corresponding parts, and in which:

Figure 1 is a view showing the bottom face of an elastic heel constructed in accordance with the principles of this invention,

Fig. 2 is a cross section taken through the structure shown in Fig. 1, and,

Fig. 3 is a view in side elevation of the structure shown in Fig. 1.

. In these several views, the heel body itself is represented by the reference numeral 1 and is composed of proper elastic material such as rubber composition. During the process of forming this heel in any manner desired, there is inserted a plug 2 which is preferably made of fabric composition or any desired composition having less elastic properties than that of the body portion 1. Also, the material of this plug should be such that its wearing qualities are considerably longer than that of the body portion 1. For this reason, the plu 2 is located at the rear portion of the bee ,which constitutes its rounded back and is continuous around one side only as is shown and is provided with a plurality of nail holes through which the attaching nails are driven to thus guard against the possibility of the lug becoming removed. It is intended t at the heels should be applied to the shoes so that this plug 2 will appear along the side suffering the greatest wear. Therefore, in view of the difference in wearing qualities of the body portion 1 and the plug 2, this plug will wear away at about the same rate that the body portion does, although it is subjected to harder use. Making this plug of fabric or the like, also gives it an added quality of preventing slipping upon smooth or wet surfaces as is well known.

Because of the nature of the plug 2, the resiliency will be slightly decreased where this plug is located. In order to compensate for this,we have provided the face of the heel 'body opposite from that upon which the plug is located, with a channel or groove 3, this channel or groove being of approximately the same size and shape and also directly opposite the plug 2. By this arrangement, the intervening material of the body is reduced and thereby its resiliency is increased. This lower face is also slightly concaved in all directions, as is shown at 4, in order to render its application to the shoe body more perfect.

Reference to Fig. 3 will disclose that the thickness of the heel body along the breast line, as is represented by the reference numeral 5, is smaller than as' shown at the rear portion of the heel and as is designated by the reference numeral fi. The thickness of this heel gradually increases from its breast line to its rounded rear end and this arrangement is for the two-fold purpose of maintaining the sightly appearance of the heel and also insuring correct poise or carriage of the wearer. Bythis arrangement, the extreme rear portion of the foot is elevated slightly from that directly opposite the breast line 5 and so the ball portion of the foot will come in the plane of the surface upon which the heel rests. This arrangement has been determined by experiment and it is found that the ball portion will be in proper position when the heel is so constructed. In addition to this, there is added material at the rear portion of the heel where considerable wear is suffered. Therefore, after this heel does wear away slightly at-this point, it will still be approx1- i mately the same thickness as its forward portion and, therefore, the appearanceof the heel is maintained. 

